Humanity
by myheartbelongstoaboywithalimp
Summary: Bethany Hall is 115-years-old. She comes from a long line of Salem witches who contributed their fortune and amassed millions. Bethany knew both James March and Elizabeth Johnson before they both became what they are individually known as today. Coming back to the Cortez after nearly a century with her daughter, Beth has the power to make Elizabeth and James embrace their humanity.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot, characters, or character pairings, then don't read my fic. **  
**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any of the American Horror Stories. **  
**_

 _ **WORD COUNT**_ : _**3, 413**_

* * *

 _ **CHAPTER 1:**_

 ** _Welcome Back, Bethany Hall._**

* * *

Bethany Hall walked into the Hotel Cortez with her daughter, Victoria who was 4.

"Bethany?" A soft voice asked as the young woman turned her head, her piercing hazel eyes made contact with a dazzling jade green.

"My dear, Elizabeth." Bethany smiled brightly at her long-time friend before gathering her in a tight hug. "It has been so long."

"It has!" Elizabeth mused before hugging her ageless friend.

There was nobody in the lobby to have witnessed the obvious affection of the two friends apart from Bethany's daughter, Victoria.

"Come upstairs, we can have a drink and catch up." Elizabeth smiled serenely. "There is much I must tell you." Elizabeth informed and Bethany nodded as she took Victoria's hand, who smiled up at her mother with a warm grin and they made her way to Elizabeth's dwellings.

"I must say, you do rather well for yourself for a woman who should be well and truly an old hag." Beth grinned, taking her friend's hand affectionately.

"And you, my dear Beth, haven't aged a day. Those potions still working for you?" Elizabeth asked. "Please, you must tell me your secrets."

"You know well and good that my usual potions derived from sorcery had no part in my everlasting youth. Yet the curse of being born into a family full of witches who crafted a spell of infinite life definitely has its perks. Its not why I'm here, looking 25. You know exactly why this has happened.." Beth spoke gently, her grammar and etiquette still conformed to that of her lavish upbringing as a child. But Elizabeth could always see, deep down in that facade of propriety and controlled temperament, was a woman desperate, craving for intimacy and rebellion.

"Yes. I do. 90 years is a long time to come back to the Cortez. What possessed you to come back? I warned you years ago that you should never return, lest you die and be a ghost, roaming the halls. You weren't safe." Elizabeth recapped as they entered her home and Victoria ran to the table and instantly took out her drawing pad and started to sketch.

"It would be befitting of my surname." Beth smiled, accepting the brandy that Elizabeth held out for her. "Thank you, darling." She took a sip and smiled. "You always remembered the kind I liked."

"Of course I would remember. You were there for me when I was at my lowest point in life. Which reminds me, I have some news for you." Elizabeth revealed, taking a sip of her own brandy. Before taking a cautious glance at Victoria.

Bethany followed Elizabeth's eyes. "Don't worry. She's not listening. Whenever she starts to draw. . she enters a world of her own. But, if you care to be more cautious. ." to which Elizabeth nodded and Beth's face melted into understanding. "Baby girl," Victoria lifted her head up and smiled at her mother as Beth took out her iPod and plugged the headphones in, selecting a genre of upbeat music, that she knew Victoria liked and set the volume to a setting that wouldn't be harmful. "Here you are, sweet-pea."

Victoria took the headphones and smiled beautifully up at her mother, showing her missing front tooth. "Thank you, Mummy." Victoria smiled as she put the headphones on and wiggled slightly as she drew.

"I know it isn't practical, but she likes it and music always inspires her. Plus, it happens to be convenient." Beth smiled and leaned back. "Now tell me this news of yours. It must be serious by the look on your face."

"I have just learnt from my former husband that he had locked away Rodolfo and his wife Natacha in his sealed hallway for nearly a century." Elizabeth revealed, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Jesus Christ." Bethany whispered, a hand to her mouth, suddenly now thankful that Victoria had her headphones on.

"Christ had nothing to do with it."

"Obviously. Oh, my darling, if I had known. ."

"I know, you would have pulled them out of that room with your bare hands." Elizabeth finished her sentence, taking Bethany's hand into her own.

"He ripped away your happy ever after because he knew he would never have one, especially with you." Beth sighed, rubbing her eyes before standing up ramrod straight, downing the last of her brandy. "Something always triggers him off, what did you say?" Beth asked, running a hand through her long, thick jet black hair.

"I told him I would marry again and I teased him about love and then he kept talking about Rodolfo and revealed their fate to me." Elizabeth recapped the entire night and its unfortunate outcome as Beth nodded in understanding.

"When you teased him about how you would never love him, that's what triggered him. You know he is as impulsive as a teenage boy about to have sex for the first time. He just does what he likes and doesn't care about the feelings of others, as long as he gets off in any way he can." Beth stood up and grabbed her glass before walking to the crystal canteen and poured herself a generous helping of her favourite brandy before she resumed her seat opposite Elizabeth.

"I realize that, but at the time, I hardly cared for him. I married him out of pure convenience, he was rich and that was all that mattered. I put up with everything that he did. And he knew that."

"Are you forgetting that James is a man, first and foremost?"

"Jealousy is unattractive on any man. That's why I got rid of the last man who tried to possess me."

"Ah, I was wondering where that young thing went off too. It doesn't matter anyway, he was much too young and naive for you."

"Are you saying that I'm old?" Elizabeth teased to which Beth shrugged.

"Yes. But then again, I am older than you. I was born in 1900. The turn of the new century. So there isn't much to say about me then, is there?"

Both women laughed gently.

"So, Elizabeth, who is the lucky man whom you intend to marry?"

"Will Drake." Elizabeth sighed in exasperation and gently rubbed her forehead as Bethany patted her arm.

"I feel your pain. I met him once. It put me off wanting to meet him ever again. You know he insulted me for wearing an 'outdated' dress. I went to compliment his clothing line and he goes ahead and pulls that little stunt and he even told me that my makeup and hairstyle had been used so many times he found it boring. I wanted to toss him across the ballroom and out the damn window. And I wouldn't have gotten caught. But I just made him embarrass himself in front of all of all the guests and made him spill his drink and slip like a jackass all night."

"I agree that he speaks out of turn and he puts in his opinion despite it being not wanted nor needed. But he has high hopes for the hotel and if he puts it on the map and makes it known, then we will have more customers coming in and more money rolls in."

"And what of the souls wandering the halls?" Beth asked, taking a sip of the brandy.

"They will target those that will not be missed. Ever."

"Well, it looks as if you have it under control. I'm very proud of you, my friend. All these years in this hotel and you've kept it afloat. Despite everything's that's transpired." Beth stood and walked to Elizabeth, pulling her in a tight hug. "So very brave."

"I'm glad your back, Bethany. Despite the warnings, I missed you."

"I missed you too. And between you and me, travelling the world for 90 years tends to get boring when you've seen it all five times over."

"Will you and dear Victoria be staying?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at her friend.

"I believe we shall." Bethany said before turning to her daughter, taking the headphones off. "Vickie, what do you think of staying in this lovely hotel for a little while?" Vickie's face morphed into one of pure excitement as she hugged her mother tightly. Words not needed to express her joy. "Well, we have our answer."

(..)

Bethany cradled a sleeping Victoria in her arms as she carried the bags to across the seventh floor at the order of Elizabeth. She had reassured the older woman that she would handle Will to which Bethany accepted the room, carrying her things into room 78. Beth also knew what else was lurking on this floor. She set her bags down by the bed, pulled the sheets down and she set Victoria down, before pulling off the young girl's shoes and socks off, as well as her jacket, to make her extra comfortable and then pulled she sheets over her baby before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, brushing away a few strands of dark brown hair.

Bethany then continued to unpack her belongings, as well as her daughters. Bethany changed and pulled on tight black jeans, a deep blue tank top and a male black button down shirt that she slipped over her shoulder and left it unbuttoned. Pulling on black combat boots, she turned to see Victoria resting peacefully, the force field that she had created would keep any kind of hostility away from Victoria, she would be safe.

She sighed, before walking out of the room, heading down the hall when she saw a man, a ghost, screaming about kale, charging toward her.

"Shut up," Beth said, flicking her fingers and he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. She sighed and took the elevator, before she rode it down to the Blue Parrot Lounge, finding the bar and she took a seat, looking at the bartender. "Orange juice and vodka, heavy on the vodka." She smiled gently. The bartender nodded before making it three quarters of the glass filled with orange juice and the rest filled with the clear strong liquor. "Thank you." She said before sipping at the strong drink, allowing it to flood her senses.

"It's a rather strong drink for such a small lady. I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Liz."

"Bethany, Bethany Hall. And you'd be surprised." She grinned before taking a large gulp.

"Bethany Hall? _The_ Bethany Hall!?" Liz looked at her surprised.

"Is there another Bethany Hall that I am unaware of?" Her eyes looked up and she stared at Liz.

"You mean you don't know?" Liz asked and in response, Bethany just shrugged.

Liz turned and there was a portrait of Bethany taken before James built the hotel right behind her. Beth was holding a cigarette and a glass of her wine, in her best dress and jewelry. She was laughing at something James had said before the photo had been taken. The look of pure joy on her face was easily recognizable.

"Mr March had this picture blown up and mounted, in memory of you when you disappeared. Everybody knows the story."

"They all know James' story. What did he say?"

Liz gave her a knowing look. "Why don't you ask him? You're the one staying in his room."

Bethany remained silent but she knew that Liz was right. Downing the rest of her drink and she handed Liz a generous tip. "Thank you for the drink and for the heads up." Beth thanked her before leaving, heading back to the seventh floor, heading across the hallway when she heard Victoria screaming

 _"Mummy! Mummy, please help!"_

"Victoria!" Bethany cried out, running full pelt down the hall.

" _MUMMY~!"_ Victoria started to cry and scream at the same time.

Bethany ran into the room to see the Kale-man trying to get his hands on Victoria, muttering and growling about how hard it was to get what he wanted. "Get your goddamn hands away from my daughter, you son-of-a-bitch!" With a massive stroke of her arm, the man was banished from the room painfully, and Bethany knew it too. Her limitless power reverberated within the room as she ran to her daughter and sat on the bed.

Victoria lunged into her mother's lap, sobbing and crying, having been scared out of her wits when the bloodied man started screaming and trying to touch her.

"Oh, my darling girl. My baby. I'm so sorry I left you alone. Please forgive me, my love. I'm here now. He's gone." After twenty minutes of rocking Victoria back and forth, whispering soothing words, Victoria lulled off into a safe slumber, clutching to her mother like a life preserver. Bethany's tears rolled down her cheeks as she kept rocking her daughter back and forth, wiping at the tears unsuccessfully and sniffled, keeping Victoria safe, in her arms.

"Miss Hall, how lovely to see you once again." At the soft voice, Bethany turned to see the loyal Miss Evers. James' laundress and partner in crime.

Bethany couldn't help the smile that broke the sadness on her face. "Miss Evers, it is wonderful to see you once again. How are you?" Bethany asked.

"I'm very well, thank you, Madam. Do you require fresh linens?" Miss Evers asked. She had always liked Bethany better than Elizabeth. Always.

Bethany looked perplexed as she looked at the sheets before shaking her head. "No, not at present, thank you kindly. Though do you think I could trouble you for some dinner? I don't think Victoria would want to leave and go anywhere at this moment."

"Of course, do you have any notion of the kind of meal you would like to have for tonight?" Miss Evers asked, looking to Bethany who shook her head.

"I will let you decide. You have always had a good eye and good taste for a fantastic meal. You have never failed to please me when the situation called for the highest of standards. I implicitly trust your judgement and follow any idea you choose." Bethany smiled gently to Miss Evers, who would have blushed under the praise, if she had not been dead.

"Thank you, Miss Hall."

"You're welcome, Hazel."

Miss Evers strode out of the room, immensely happy that Bethany had returned.

Bethany looked around and spoke to the seemingly empty room. "James, I know you're here and I know that you know that Elizabeth told me about Rodolfo and Natacha. But that's not why I am here. While I do feel outrage on Elizabeth's part, and I do know she is in a great deal of pain, thanks to you, I will not take unnecessary action. This is not my fight. I am here because I wish to be, not because I was summoned to deal out your punishment. But you and I both know that I would probably protect you from harm, rather than inflict it. And I know you ordered Hazel to wait on me, which was kind of you, but you didn't have to go out of your way to do something like that." Bethany smiled at the empty room, not seeing James in the armchair right in front of her, not even sensing him due to her high emotional levels.

He smiled at her thoughtfulness. She was always the one to open up to his humanity and to not let his murderous streak win the best of him, yet she had never tried to save the victims he took, even though she was so innocent, she cared only for him. For his safety. After intensely studying her, she still looked the same. As young and as youthful as she had in her 25 years of existence, before she disappeared from the face of the Earth. He could see her true age in the hazel of her eyes. The weariness that an elder would have, after experiencing an eventful life.

Bethany may have looked young and at the epitome of health and happiness, but she was a tired soul. Tired of spending 115 years walking the Earth around and around, despite the fact that she must have had her child fairly recently. There was a man in the picture. A man that he would love to scribble out of the equation.

Despite everything, to James; she was still as beautiful and as kind and as wonderful as she had been in 1924.

"I know you won't probably show yourself until I ask it of you, and I know in my heart that I am not ready. Forgive me, James but I do not think I could handle it yet. But soon, I'd like to hear your side of the story of my disappearance, because I was in the lounge and I saw the portrait. It will be very soon. I promise you that." Bethany promised the empty room. Empty except for herself and Victoria which her veiled sight revealed. "But, on a lighter note, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Victoria Lorraine Hall. She's a very charming girl, despite the fact she's asleep. I hope, when I'm ready, you can meet her. I know you would never hurt her." At that, Bethany turned her attention back to her daughter, ending the one-way conversation.

James nodded, even though he knew that the action was pointless, just a mere human reaction to satisfy the statement, silently. He had only one boundary, he would never harm a child. It was a disgusting act to terrorize a child and even he, a psychopathic murderer, had more sense than half of the halfwit delusional scumbags that claimed to be God's most feared creation.

He had mentored some of God's real feared creations and turned them into peaceful servants of Lucifer.

Hurting a young one is one of the lowest things a person could ever do and James could never be able to lay a finger on young Victoria, nor her mother.

He knew that his sudden bout of sanity was due to the presence of Bethany, yet he had never found out why he reacted to her in such a way. While he would be waiting for her to call, he would ponder this theory and continue to explore the notion of just maybe, she might be his savior. Though he had to laugh at that, he was past saving, Hell, he was dead and stuck in his own hotel, though he knew that if he were ever to pass, it would be a pass straight to Hell and no stops.

His eyes turned back to Bethany and he rubbed his chin with his fingertips, watching as she comforted her sleeping child and he somehow felt the missing pieces of his frozen life fit back together like a puzzle.

* * *

 _ **Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new story for AHS: Hotel.**_

 _ **In this story, Bethany has been very good friends with the Countess and they treat each other like sisters. Whereas Mr March and Bethany had known each other long before that, since childhood and that's why he feels a reprieve in sanity toward Bethany.**_

 ** _Just as a side note, both the Countess and Mr March are much more humanized in this story and that is because of my OC and because of the new chapter, where we see an entirely different Countess, so I'm transitioning between Human!Countess and Infected!Countess._**

 ** _As well as Mr March, we will see Sane!MrMarch and Insane!MrMarch as well as some backstory into their conjoined pasts._**

 ** _And with Victoria, she's only a four year old child, with an immortal mother who is a friend of a blood drinking 111 year old woman, seemingly immortal as well as a psychotic, definitely dead ghost of the man who built the Hotel Cortez._**

 ** _What could possibly go wrong?_**

 ** _Only everything._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** If you don't like the plot, characters, or character pairings, then don't read my fic. **  
**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any of the American Horror Stories. **  
**_

 _ **WORD COUNT**_ : _**3, 413**_

* * *

 _ **CHAPTER 2:**_

 _ **Puzzle Pieces.**_

* * *

 **SEPTEMBER, 1924:**

 _Bethany walked around the construction site that was the Hotel Cortez in the early stages of its erection. James had his back to her as he was directing the workers and she intended it to stay that way. She wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to his face and answer his many questions. Beth knew this would send him off the deep end, but she needed to get away. It wasn't of the simple fact that she disliked James, in fact it was the complete opposite, she loved him as more than a friend, but she needed to escape, get her family as far behind her as possible and keep James safe, or her difficulties would become his and she couldn't have that._

 _Not while her family was on the warpath._

 _She'd leave him for now, and hopefully in about a year, she'd come back and explain it all to him, maybe he'll even forgive her for her sudden disappearance. She raised a hand and in his pocket was a conjured note; a brief explanation of her sudden leave and then she turned and with tears rolling treks down her cheeks, she walked away from the only man that ever understood her, the only man that loved her for who she was._

(..)

Beth was sitting up in bed, with her beautiful daughter hugging her good morning. "Good morning, Mummy."

"Good morning, my lovely." Beth says with a warm smile. "How did you sleep?" It was their second week at the Cortez.

"I slept well, Mummy, but you kept moving around a lot. Bumped me a bit." Victoria whined, looking a bit put out that she didn't get the kind of rest that she was hoping for.

"Oh, sorry, sweetie." Beth apologized, before there was a brief knock on the door and Miss Evers strode in with a delivery trolley, which had a full surface, brimming with breakfasts.

"Breakfast will be served in the dining room, if that is alright with you, Madam? I took the liberty of setting the dining table for you and your lovely daughter." Miss Evers smiled.

"Thank you very much. It looks so yummy!" Vickie said, scrambling out of bed, excitedly as she raced to the dining table and squealed in delight.

Beth sighed and chuckled to herself, before getting up and walking in the same path as her daughter, to see the dining table set to the nines. "Hazel, you never disappoint!"

Miss Evers bowed before leaving.

Vickie and Beth shared jokes and laughed and ate till they were content and full. Beth stacked all of the dirty dishes on the top of the cart, intending to be courteous toward Miss Evers as Vickie went back inside to play on Beth's phone, picking a fun game to play.

Miss Evers manifested and took the plates from Beth. "Thank you, Miss Hall, but I can manage just fine. You go and spend time with your lovely daughter."

Beth smiled and thanked the laundress before turning and walking into the bedroom, to see Vickie already in the bathroom, on her little stool brushing her teeth. The elder Hall smiled and walked into the bathroom to follow in her daughter's footsteps to brush her own teeth clean of the taste of the breakfast that lingered.

Her hazel eyes briefly glanced at her own reflection before she caught something in the corner of her eye. A small wisp of a dark suit and when she took a closer look, she could James standing there, with his famous cigarette holder as he took a long pull and his cigarette sizzled as he slowly puffed the toxic fumes back into the air through his nose and lips, watching her with his piercing eyes, his face was thoughtful.

Their eyes met.

James' eyes widened at the sudden contact. He though he had been most careful to be avoided being seen and he had just botched it.

What he had not expected was Bethany's lips to curve upwards in a soft, barely-there smile and his entire face softened before he disappeared and she sighed sadly.

Again, the same empty feeling entered her heart, she could still sense him, but he wasn't close, not even in her vision. She wanted him there, and it was her heart's way of telling her to hurry up and sort out their differences.

She knew she was running without having to take a step.

Bethany knew that James would stay incorporeal forever until she ordered otherwise, but she was never that cruel.

Never.

Both Bethany and Vickie finished with their hygienic routine before Bethany walked out and laid out Vickie's outfit for the day. "You like this?" Beth asked and held up the light blue leggings and the frilly black skirt and the pretty blue knit sweater and her black flats. Vickie nodded happily.

"I like it, Mummy!" Vickie said and Beth smiled as she undressed her daughter, wrapped her in a robe before leading her to the bathroom to give her a bath and after being soaked; both mother and daughter dried off and Bethany wrapped her baby girl in a warm fluffy towel and a robe before leading Vickie to the bed and continued to dry her off until Vickie was dry and warm and then as a patient mother, dressed her child in her underwear and a singlet before she started to run around the room, naked. Telling Vickie to put her feet in the scrunched up leggings so the end of the pants easily slid around Vickie's ankles without any trouble and lifted them over her hips and then came her skirt that stopped just at her thighs and she rested that just over the waistband of the leggings and then the sweater, telling Vickie to hold her arms up and then through, playing a little game of Peekaboo with the top of the sweater, enjoying the melodic laughter of her Vickie. and last came the flats and her daughter was dressed.

James watched on, smiling sweetly at the scene, he felt oddly at home. He could almost picture it:

 _Bethany garbed in the attire of their era, with Victoria in the children's attire walking toward him in the Hotel Cortez, a gold ring wrapped around his wedding finger and as Beth raised her hand to take his, he could see the sparkling diamond and the wedding band that adorned her graceful fingers as Victoria ran and jumped into his arms as Bethany kissed him gently, calling him 'husband' and 'darling' meaningfully._

He knew that could never happen, because the wedding band around his finger belonged to a woman who cared not for him, Victoria was not his child and Bethany couldn't be with him, for the simple fact that he was dead and even though she was technically immortal, she would be bored staying in one particular place.

Hell, he didn't even know why she came back after all these years.

It peaked his interest and his long lost anger and the sting of betrayal of her disappearance.

When she asked for him, he would make his feelings clear. He would let her know that what she did to him was worse than killing him, because he was dying a slow death every day she was gone and even when he _was_ dead, he still felt like he was expiring every day, only to be reborn the next and relive through the whole ordeal once more.

He turned away from the sweet scene before him and tried to block out the happy memories that they had once shared when they were young ones.

 **JULY, 1918:**

 _"Come on, Jimmy! Before my mother catches us!" Bethany Hall, whispered to a young James March, who trailed after her lazily. She was a rising interest in high society, the beautiful daughter of Joanna and Wilbur Hall, sister to Frederick. She was the beloved girl of the East Coast socialites and is known to be one of the most influential woman of her time, for her modern way of life. She had exceeded the expectations of their time and was still now revered among the feminists of today._

 _Her impressive lineage never once sent one hot air bubble in her beautiful head. She was kind and compassionate, sweet and charming and more of a woman than her mother, who only cared about image, financial stability and society's most revered woman of the age._

 _Bethany, whenever she wasn't in etiquette, literary or elocution lessons; was with James._

 _They were as thick as thieves and both had problems with their parents._

 _James wasn't born to wealth as Bethany had, he had to work for his share and his father constantly reminded him of the Good Lord which only proceeded to irk the young March to the point where he detested attending a service of the Lord his father so feared and loved. While Bethany, who had the money, lacked the familial love that she wished she could have grown to have; while her mother never acted as such, leaving her paternal duties to that of the many governesses and nannies that she had employed to care for her children, instead of herself. Her father was a man of stock and well-breeding; he cared not for those that were less fortunate and laughed down at them, as he had to James._

 _"I'm coming, you need not be so quick, nobody's going to catch us, and your mother, the vampire she is, never comes out in the day. You know that as well as I do." James sighed as they made it to the ornate white gazebo in the famous Hall gardens and smiled as Bethany giggled at the insult of her mother._

 _"You capture my mother perfectly, Mr March." Beth giggled once more before sitting on the chair conjoined to the wall, resting her head gently on the intricate patterns of the wall._

 _"Of course I do. I'm a genius." James grinned, before settling himself beside her, holding a stick like a gentleman's walking cane._

 _"Yes you are." Bethany agreed and took his hand in hers, holding it in her lap._

 _"Are you still hoping to fly away to Los Angeles to start a new life?" James asked, looking down at her._

 _"Yes, one day, maybe. I will leave this place with my entrusted fund and run to that wonderful place to make my way and not be shadowed by my family." Beth's lips curled into a gentle smile as her eyes drifted dreamily as she lost herself in her own imagination._

 _"If I know anything about you, Bethany, it is that 'maybe' is always a definite yes." James smiled, squeezing her hands._

 _Beth smiled. "If I can ever get away from my family. Get away from my already decided life." Beth sighed, looking out at the clear blue sky as the filtered sun shone in patches against her sun-kissed skin._

 _James couldn't take his eyes off her. While they were friends, ever since James reached maturity and Beth reached the start of womanhood, their hormones were quick rage out of control and they had been lusting after each other in secret of course, for neither were sure of the other's feelings._

 _It was a simple case of a teenager's first love, but little did the 18-year-old Bethany and a 23-year-old James know was that their love would grow and become something that neither would have ever have thought possible._

 _But then again, there was no happy ending and while James was doomed to live out the remainder of his frozen afterlife in the hotel he built with a wife who despised him, Bethany was able to see the world time and time again._

James sighed.

He didn't know what he had done all those years ago to warrant her disappearance, but he was sure that he was part of her reason. It started early back, right at the turn of the century. 1920, when she started to withdraw from him, she never left her lavish home and even then, her mother went to her home and Bethany was forced to live her life under the guidance and stern hand of her mother.

She did so, but it was obvious she fought. When she was _allowed_ to leave her own home, James could see that she had lost weight, her arms were covered and she wore a scarf. When she visited the Cortez to congratulate him, he grabbed her and dragged her to his room before pulling off her jacket and scarf, ignoring her screams of protest, only to see the bruises and scratches inflicted upon her by her mother.

James had never felt such rage before in his life.

Never.

James shook his head and tried to get rid of the feelings that burrowed their way into his head and heart, he had done his best to keep those thoughts away for years and took deep breaths to calm himself, which worked only to a certain degree.

And in 1924, she disappeared like she was never even there. Not one trace apart from a note that he always kept in his pocket.

James turned back to see Vickie on a touch device while Bethany had grabbed a summery dress with some sort of heel that didn't part as she grabbed her undergarments and went into the bathroom, no doubt to bathe.

(..)

After 20 minutes, she emerged from the bathroom with a trail of steam behind her as she was in a warm blue dress that hugged her figure and managed to look classy and casual at the same time. Her breasts pushed together and he could see the tops of them as the neckline dipped modestly and the hem of the dress ended tight against the middle of her thighs as she wore the low wedges that accompanied the dress perfectly and her hair was sleek, dry and glossy.

She wore minimal make-up, her eyelashes thicker and slight black liner that ringed her eyes modestly, a touch of powder and a dash of lip gloss and she was happy with her look.

James gasped at the sight of her, she may have been born in an era more befitting of her nature, but the modern world accepted her perfectly.

Bethany crouched in front of her daughter and smiled. "I'll be back soon, okay, baby? I won't be long. If you need anything, you know what to do." Vickie nodded and smiled, returning to _Doctor Who_.

Bethany sighed, taking her phone and she walked out of the room, and James followed, using his handy ghost powers and walked through the wall and followed her to a few rooms down, his brows crease as she opened the door and he quickly entered before she closed the door.

"James." Bethany asked, and his entire body awoke at the sound of his name being uttered from her lips. "James, I know you are here. You can. . come out now." Beth looked around, trying to find him. "James?"

"Hello, my sweet Bethany." James whispered from his place behind her and she whirled to face him, her face showed love, relief, happiness, sadness and regret all at once.

He took a drag of his cigarette before letting puff lazily into the air, curling into all different shapes. "How are you, my love?"


End file.
